[asterisk-users] "Fixing the Caller-ID Problem", by John Todd for O'ReillyNet

[Jay R. Ashworth]

This seems like a piece members of this list would find interesting...

	 ===
	There is growing concern over the interaction of VoIP systems
	with the legacy PSTN, and the transmission of caller identity
	data--most notably, Caller ID on the PSTN. It is not always
	possible, or obvious how, to handle Caller ID data when moving
	to or from VoIP and the PSTN networks. There are even business
	models predicated on the ability of Caller ID to be transmitted
	to the PSTN with a value that is not "expected"; call centers
	are an obvious example, where customer-support staff make
	outbound calls with a Caller ID that may be from one of many
	possible clients. More troubling is the possibility that Caller
	ID may be used to trick unsuspecting call recipients into
	certain actions or beliefs, and it is this concern that's
	currently creating a legislative threat I believe must be
	averted.

	...

	Congress is currently considering legislation titled The Truth
	in Caller ID Act, which certainly sounds noble. Who doesn't
	want correct Caller ID when receiving a call? The truth is that
	this bill is redundant--the Wire Fraud Act already covers this
	issue, and adding more wording seems to be merely a
	re-statement of a certain circumstance or type of Wire Fraud.
	While the wording of this legislation does not effectively
	change the amount of power a prosecutor currently has, I
	believe it will certainly create confusion and fear in the
	technical and investment community because of the uncertainty
	it promotes. It's like saying, "I want you to not break the
	speeding laws AND I want you to not go over the speed limit!" A
	legal staff could spend a week--at $200 an hour--explaining
	that to a CEO, despite the consistency.
	 ===

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/etel/2006/10/18/solving-the-caller-id-problem.html

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                                                jra at baylink.com
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